Heading over to France via Newhaven-Dieppe ferry during the summer. First week is sorted, staying near Caen...we were going to head to the Alps for the second week but with only 5 days is hardly worth the drive.
Any good biking? Don't really want to go that far south as not a fan of hot weather.
All very flat in the North East. Best biking in the North is around Caen, in Suisse Normandy quite a few routes, get a map from tourist office or look on vttfrance.com
If you have more time head west into Brittany. Mont St Michel/ St Malo in North and down to Southern coast perhaps around Gulf du Morbihan / Carnac. Bit more elevation and central Brittany is pretty sparsely populated.
Sorry, north west, (edited)
We are staying in Suisse Normande the first week.
the link below states there are numerous trails just to the South of Caen-
http://sitesvtt.ffc.fr/trace-vtt/suisse-normande-6/
but the website it links to doesn't have a map, which is unusual.
It seems most of the towns in France encourage their local bike groups to use and "manage" the trails, and the tourist offices produce a map giving info' on the trails.
We spent some time around Verdun (wrong side for you) and whilst the trails weren't particularly challenging, there was some fun to be had, and most of them went through the woods and trenches of the battlefields. I wasn't prepared for the scale of it all, completely amazing and quite humbling at times.
@ski99 - that's Suisee Normandy we have been talking about and exactly where @spooky is staying. The local tourist offices don't seem to like putting the maps up online, the only one's you'll find are scanned in photos
Thanks guys... We were going to move campsites but sounds like we are right in the middle of it. Booked in to a place near Flers.
Mortain, Vire, Theiry Harcourt, all good places in Normandy. Good off road rides and well marked out, got to the tourist office and ask for maps. Bit of rock climbing in the area also.
For riding, there are some (supposedly) various graded (red and black IIRC) trails around lac de guerledan in Brittany.
Theres also some ace places to stay nearby - Lenvos Gites between the lake and Pontivy are english owned and an ace place to relax...
@spooky - have a search on here, there have been some Brittany threads. if you like the countryside and dramatic coastline plus some good beaches Brittany is worth a look. The further west you go the quieter it gets (it is popular in summer though) and especially inland.
@Dave IME the grading refers to how much climbing and how long the rides are rather than any technical assesment
http://www.utagawavtt.com/gmap/carte-generale-topos-vtt
is a great site to lose an hour on as well.
Might need to wipe the dust off the passport!
You could try Rouen, Mrs ASBrooks is from there and I'm always tempted to take my bike with me and get out.
The town is surrounded by wooded hills which look so inviting, the town itself is also interesting with lots to look at.
There's an article here, http://www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/destinations/europe/france/north/725138/France-Off-the-beaten-chemin.html